


25 December

by mmmuse



Series: Six Months:  Journey to Love [11]
Category: Poldark (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Oral Sex, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 19:34:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmuse/pseuds/mmmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shift from master and servant to man and wife present challenges for Ross and Demelza Poldark during their first six months of marriage. Inspired by scenes from Poldark 2015, episode 4.</p>
            </blockquote>





	25 December

**Author's Note:**

> This piece follows my previous works and may reference a bit or a bob from them (from time to time) but I think this series could be a standalone. That said, if you'd like to see what has come before, click [here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmuse) for my works. If there IS a piece to read before this, read [One Night.](http://archiveofourown.org/series/321026)
> 
> Enjoy the last chapter -- more notes at the end!

Tuesday, 25th December, 1787

“Merry Christmas, Francis,” Ross said while he clapped Francis on the shoulder. He saw Demelza out of the corner of his eye, smiling and curtsying to Elizabeth and Verity as they prepared to leave Trenwith. He held out his arm for her, as he’d done so many times before. This time however, he experienced a thrill shoot up his spine as she slid her hand into the crook of his elbow. The hairs stood on the back of his neck as he realized he had his wife, the woman that he loved, on his arm, her fingers tucked tight against his side as they walked down the drive.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he murmured into her ear as they walked. _That_ was an understatement. It was better than he’d hoped. The word “better” didn’t even come close to describing it. It was brilliant; she was brilliant. His Demelza, dazzling everyone with her wit, beauty and accomplishments. He’d never been so proud of her in his life. And he loved her.

Poets and songwriters spoke of the disorienting, glorious experience of falling in love for centuries. The moment he realized he was in love with Demelza went beyond any description he’d ever encountered. A sense of physical falling, strong enough for him to wish to grab hold of something to stay on his feet. He found he was able to hold himself alight by the strength of her gaze, the beauty of her song. The honesty and courage she displayed all through the night had been so admirable, but paled in comparison to what she offered in her song.

 _The song,_ he thought to himself. He glanced at the ground and smiled, remembering how she’d hummed the song she sang last night as they’d walked down the aisle in Sawle. He would never be able to hear it again without experiencing that same breathless, weightless tumble he felt last night and he was glad of it. The coming days and weeks would be difficult for everyone, especially his friends who worked in the mines. He would rely on moments like the one he experienced last night to raise his spirits and give him hope.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, remembering how they had started their first Christmas morning as husband and wife. Hours, he told her…

_She captured his face in her hands and lowered her mouth to his, her kiss hungry and wanting. He’d responded instantly, the passion and desire he held for her for so long now amplified by the added dimension of his love for her._

_He swept her back onto the bed, pulling her off her feet and across his lap until she lay against the pillow. Her hair a cloud of red-golden floss, sweet smelling and soft as he rained kisses along the ivory column of her neck._

_Her moans of delight made him shiver against her as her fingers raked along his back. “R-Ross,” she sighed, her voice low and sultry in his ear._

_“Demelza,” he muttered against her neck while his right hand slid down her side to grasp the hem of her nightrail. “I want to see you.”_

_She paused and lowered her gaze, appearing for all the world to be shy before she nodded her assent. She rose onto her knees beside him and pulled the nightrail up and over her head. His breath caught in his throat. He slid farther up onto the bed, leaning back against the ornately carved head and overstuffed pillows. He pulled her towards him until she straddled him. He found her to be alluring, from the moment he watched her dancing at Jim and Jinny’s wedding so many months ago. Her beauty beguiled him soon after they became intimate and his desire for her grew in the weeks leading up to their marriage. His passion for her was given free rein the day they were declared man and wife and had built steadily, stronger and stronger, until it was as necessary for him as air. He stared at her now, through the new prism his love for her gave him, and was struck speechless. The sun shimmered through her hair, fiery and abundant around her face, and lit her eyes to the colour of seafoam. They gazed longingly into his, her lashes long and thick, and drew his finger to touch them. She blinked and he felt their feathery kiss against his fingertip. Her eyes tipped up in a smile, which drew his gaze to her mouth. Slightly swollen from their kiss, they glistened moist and full mere inches from his. He reached forwards and captured her mouth with his, drawing the fullness of her bottom lip into his mouth and grazed it with his teeth before releasing her, a sigh leaving them before their parting._

_He slid his mouth across her cheek and along her elegant jawline to the pale column of her neck, its grace and beauty enough to make him lose sleep in the days before their intimacy began, and even more so after, before they wed. His hand slipped up to cup the back of her head as she arched her neck, baring her throat to him. He groaned as he took it under his teeth and tongue, tasting the sweetness of her skin, drinking in the shivers and moans of her response. The desire to leave a mark upon her skin, to mark his claim upon her was so strong he had to close his eyes. He paused, unlike in days before, when he would not hesitate to succumb to his need. He knew to mark her here would make it noticeable, and he would not have her embarrassed by their passions. Not today, not here, not in the company they had yet to leave. He tucked the urge aside, content with lavishing her neck and shoulders with his kisses... for now._

_He raised his head to find her eyes now the colour of jade, her need for him having grown apace with his. He brushed a kiss across her lips before shifting his gaze to her breasts. He blinked, as if to determine if what he was seeing was real. Her breasts were full, fuller than he’d ever noticed before on her slender frame. The skin surrounding her nipples was deep rose in colour and her nipples, rigid and prominent, beckoned his mouth and hands._

_“Demelza,” he whispered, eyes transfixed on the fullness he cupped in the palms of his hands. His thumbs stroked her nipples, which tightened before his eyes. His body trembled, his throat yearning to sigh words of love and devotion in her ears, yet he held back. Not because of fear, but because he wanted those words to be first shared when they were back in the embrace of Nampara, the cottage on the bluff where their life together would_ truly _begin anew a few hours from now. He swallowed, tamping down on the overwhelming emotions nearly driving him mad in an effort to regain control of himself._

_“So very beautiful,” he murmured as his mouth suckled first one, then the other, his tongue curling around the tight nubs as she moaned and gyrated against him. Her fingers raked through his long, curling hair, holding him against her breasts as he bathed each with his tongue and mouth, the slight pulls against his scalp radiating pleasure all along his spine. He feasted on her while his hands massaged her waist, back and buttocks. His mouth slid away to kiss the tiny mole she had in her cleavage before nipping and sucking a small bruise to life on the underside of her left breast._

_She gasped at this, her eyes flying open to meet his as his lips moved towards her right. “Something for you to remember me by when next you see yourself in a mirror,” he rasped after leaving a matching mark on the underside of her right breast._

_“Ross!” she said, her eyes widening at his words and peered down in an effort to see the marks._

_“Hush now,” he said, soothingly. “You’re a beautiful woman, Demelza. You don’t know what it does to me to see my mark on you.” He leaned forward to nuzzle his lips and teeth along the column of her neck. She leaned forward, bending her head closer to his. “And know you’re mine,” he growled low in her ear. He gave her earlobe a quick nip, enjoying her squeak of pleasure and felt a wolfish smile crease the left side of his face. He pulled back to watch as a flood of colour rose from the crest of her breasts to her cheeks and his left hand flexed on her hips. He laid his right thumb against her mouth, brushing the softness of her bottom lip and leaned in to kiss her._

_“Yes, yours,” she breathed. She nipped at the tip of his thumb before drawing it into her mouth. All other thoughts disintegrated into dust as her tongue swirled around the digit, the lashes over her green cat’s eyes lowering to shield their depths. Ross groaned, reaching for her to settle upon him and ride him to merciful oblivion but she skittered away, slipping further down on the bed, dragging the sheet with her until he lay exposed, his erection curving back against the flat lines of his lower belly. “Demelza,” he gasped, the cool air of the room caressing his heated flesh. “Come back here.” He reached for her but she stayed out of his grasp, straddling his lower legs, her buttocks resting against his ankles._

_“I want to look at you, dear Ross,” she said, her voice like melted chocolate, thick and savoury. “You were very handsome last night, and even more so this morning.” Her fingers traced along the skin of his inner thighs and he quivered violently. More blood raced to his length, and he grew harder still, the pulse beat near painful throughout his groin. “I am a very lucky woman.”_

_“Please,” he said, his voice near breaking with need for her. She smiled, leaned forward, and took him in her mouth. Ross’s eyes slammed shut as an involuntary groan left his throat and he willed himself not to come on the spot. His fingers dove into the wild mass of red curls, and he slid down onto the mattress, raising his knees until she lay cradled between his thighs. One of her hands came up to press against his chest, pushing him flat, her fingers sliding through the hair on his chest towards his right nipple. She rubbed and pinched it awake under her fingertips. Her other hand caressed his inner thigh and testicles, her nail lightly running along the ridge between the two, then brushing the skin just underneath which sent ecstatic nerves firing all along his lower back and legs._

_He was insensible. Soft grunts of pleasure poured from his lips. He looked down and was undone by the sight of her lips around him. “Demelza!” he cried out in warning, all control lost as his orgasm began. She started, but continued to cradle him in her mouth as he came, gasping breathlessly in time with the force of his seed pulsing from his body to hers._

_When Ross opened his eyes, he found hers locked onto his face, her cheek pressed against his thigh, an enigmatic smile on her lips. Her hands splayed across his lower belly near his damp, softening penis. He was slightly mortified, if he were being honest with himself. There must have been something in his face that betrayed his feelings for Demelza’s smile faltered and she crawled up the mattress to nestle close to his side._

_“Ross?” she asked, brushing a kiss across his lips. He could taste himself on her mouth and was in one moment incredibly aroused by the concept and wishing he could expire on the spot._

_“I’m sorry, Demelza,” he muttered, drawing her into his embrace. “I don’t know wha—”_

_She shushed him, placing her finger against his lips and looking him in his eye. “Don’t apologise, Ross,” she said, pressing kisses along his jaw. She paused, sighing against his neck. “To know that I was able to please you so thoroughly...” She raised her eyes to meet his._

If she only knew, _he thought to himself. “And you, my dear?” he asked quietly, shifting her so that he lay looking down into her eyes._

_“We’ve hours yet, yes, Ross?” she whispered, leaning up to kiss his collarbone, her hand running along his side to his lower back to the upper curve of his buttocks._

_He shivered at her caress and grinned. “As a matter of fact…” He drifted off as he brought his mouth down upon hers, his tongue tangling with hers once again while he wrapped his arms around her. He slid his thigh between her legs and brought it up against her groin. He felt her immediate response to its pressure, rocking back and forth against it, leaving her body’s dew in its wake. He pressed her back against the pillows, sliding his body down between her legs until he brushed a kiss atop the russet curls at the apex of her thighs. He used his index fingers to part the petals of her sex to expose her bud, swollen and erect. His mouth closed upon her sex and he savoured her womanhood, breathing in her scent – spices and earth and sea and Demelza – as she bucked and writhed under his ministrations. His hands reached up to caress her breasts before sliding down to her hips. He looked up the length of her body to find her face flushed with desire, her eyes watching him as he tasted her. He wrenched his mouth away from her sex to press biting kisses along her inner thighs, his lips and teeth marking her there as well before returning to her delectable centre._

_They were so evenly matched in their passion and desire for one another and he thanked God for it. Her hands held his head in place against her, and she moaned her pleasure as her orgasm shook her. Her eyes closed tight as her hips jerked against his mouth, and he drank of her desperately, feeling the quivers of her body against his tongue. He flexed his hips against the bedding, the friction against his hardening length growing more and more intense as the moments ticked by. As her fingers relaxed their grip on his head he raised his mouth from her, kissing her left hip as he crawled up the bed, nested between her thighs, and thrust home in a single movement. She groaned as he buried himself to the hilt of her body, his testicles resting against the firm flesh of her buttocks until he began to move within her. Her legs slipped around his waist, the heels of her feet hooking up against his buttocks, holding him tight and deep within her. Her rhythmic sighs of “Ross… dearest Ross”, rang in his ears as the importance of the act washed over him. The words of his wedding vows came to the front of his mind:_ with my body, I thee worship. _The words “making love” had new meaning for him, and he lowered himself, relaxing his arms to bring his body to rest upon hers, for his hips to press deeper into her pelvis. He slid his arms under her arms so his hands clasped around her shoulders, and their movements became near balletic._

_“I love how you feel under me, Demelza,” he murmured while gazing into her eyes. “I worry I might crush you, but you cradle me.” He kissed her, mouth and cheek, before raising his head once again. “You welcome me inside you.” He thrust deeply a few times before resuming his pace from earlier._

_“Ross, I love it when we lie like this, blended together,” she said, emotion thickening her voice, making it sultry and alluring. “I don’t know where I stop and you begin.”_

_Moved beyond his ability to speak, he kissed her, deeply, so thoroughly he was unaware of when his pace had quickened. His body arched and arched against her own as her nails scored his back and her teeth set onto the skin between his neck and shoulder. He smiled, knowing he would have a mark of his own to think of for the days to come. Her anguished sobs of release cried out against his throat as he felt his own end reach him. The words ‘I love you, I love you’ reverberated over and over in his mind as that first tremor shook him, his inarticulate gasps of pleasure buried deep within the pillow as he poured himself into her body._

_They lay like this for several minutes, or it could have been days, with nothing but their harsh breathing filling the air with sound. He eased the weight of his upper body from hers, using his forearms to prop him up, and looked down into her face. She glowed, pink from her neck to her cheeks, sweat staining the edges of her hair. Her eyes were a crystalline green, sleepy and satisfied. Her mouth was swollen from his kisses, but she didn’t seem to care one bit. The happiness he saw in her eyes was reflected back in his heart. He blinked several times, sweat causing his eyes to tear (or so he told himself). He ducked his head to kiss her, a long, leisurely kiss made rich by their bodies’ continued connection below. Regretfully, he slipped from inside her and gathered her against him. His free hand reached under his pillow, where he’d stashed his handkerchief the night before. He handed it to Demelza who, while blushing, tended to both of them before settling down next to him once more. He leaned down to brush a kiss across her mouth._

_“Good morning, wife,” he whispered against her mouth._

_She smiled against his lips and returned his kiss, lingering over it. “Good morning, husband,” she responded. “Happy Christmas.”_

_He felt his smile broaden across his face. “To you as well.”_

_She lifted her eyes to meet his. “Did you sleep well?”_

_“A few hours,” he said, yawning before gathering her again into his arms. “I wouldn’t say no to a bit more, though. You, however, were hungry. Will you be all right until it’s time to go down?”_

_She cocked her head, appearing to consider his words, then smiled. “I think I might be satisfied.”_

_He arched a challenging brow at her. “Actually, my dear, I find you to be insatiable…”_

_“Is that your only complaint, sir?” she quipped, arching her own brow at him._

_He laughed, remembering their exchange from so many months ago. “I have no complaints. Now go to sleep, Demelza.”_

_She did as he asked, and they managed to sleep another two hours before it was time to rise for breakfast. It was a pleasant enough affair, much more in line with what Ross expected the night before to be – just family – and he was happy to see Demelza settling into the conversation between his cousins and him with grace and good humour._

He raised his eyes to look at her profile, the loveliness of her hair, the clarity in her eyes. She turned to look at him and he found himself blushing, nervously laughing at her surprised gaze. “Ross? Is something amiss?” she said, slowing their pace and raising her hand to toy with her ribbon.

He squeezed the hand held in his arm. “Nothing, my dear,” he managed to say past the lump in his throat. “Just happy, is all.” She smiled up at him and they resumed their stroll towards Nampara.

Thirty minutes later, Ross could see several of the miners walking ahead of them on the path leading to Wheal Leisure. The happiness from the morning clouded as they neared the mine. Five more days. They had five more days to find a measure of copper large enough to keep them from closing. Despite the revelations of the past twenty-four hours, the reality of the end of this venture cast a pall over everything.

He looked out over the sea. The winter sun shone bright, near blinding over the water. God, he loved this land, loved the people who worked for him. He loved her, he thought to himself as her hand gently squeezed his arm. What were they to do when they closed? They could manage for a time, but eventually work would have to be found. He could not pay back the loans through the work he could wring from his land alone. He might have to leave to find work. Return to the military? He’d sworn never to go back, but what if he had no choice?

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and listened to their measured steps on the gravel path. Best to speak of it now, while they still had time to plan.

“I hope you won’t live to regret your choice of husband,” he said, staring straight ahead. He couldn’t yet meet her eyes.

“Why would I?” she responded, her fingers pressing against his sleeve. He grasped at that small gesture as one of comfort.

“We may soon be destitute.” The words tasted like ash in his mouth. He paused to glance at her, finding her eyes searching his face. She was pale in the brightness of the midday sun, and he wondered if the events of the last day had been too much for her.

Her lips tipped up into a smile before she turned her gaze to the sea. “There are other kinds of treasure,” she said, squeezing his arm once again. He swallowed against the hard lump that had formed in his throat. Her resilience was an inspiration to him. He was about to respond when Leisure’s bell began to ring. Men and women began to run towards the mine and Ross felt his stomach drop to his feet.

“What is it?” Demelza asked, turning to look at him. “A rockfall?” Ross began to run, as fast as he’d ever run before. Fear and worry for his friends Henshawe, Paul, Zacky and Mark, for all of the people who toiled for him, roiled in his gut, and on Christmas Day, no less! He prayed all were safe as he climbed the hill, his legs scrambling up the steep grade.

It was chaos when he arrived at the top of the hill. People ran in all directions. His eyes swept over the property, frantically searching for Zacky and Henshawe’s faces. Finally, he saw Zacky rushing towards him. Relief that he was safe flooded him but fear of a disaster below held any happiness at bay. “What’s happened?” Ross shouted as he neared his friend.

“Copper!” Zacky cried. Ross grasped his friend’s arms, disbelief swimming through his mind. “Copper’s been struck! A monstrous load!”

Ross felt his knees give way and he fell, the relief so profound it made him near faint. He lifted his head, laughing. Laughing with sheer, unadulterated joy for the first time in what felt like forever. Within seconds, Henshawe was next to him. Ross leapt to his feet and flung his arms around Henshawe. The two men hammered one another in a ferocious bear hug of happiness and relief. Saved! They were saved by this miracle. All of them were saved by a run of copper that had finally been liberated after twelve months of hard labour; another six months of planning before that.

As Ross released Henshawe he turned and found Demelza, skirts in hand with her brilliant smile outshining the sun, running up the last rise towards where he stood. He grabbed the hat off his head and within two steps she was in his arms, the collision of their bodies rendering him breathless. He felt her hands clutch at his shoulders. His own gathered her tight against him, as if to never let her go. Her happy laughter filled his head and made his joy complete.

To be standing on his land, made profitable at last, with his loving wife by his side, it was almost more than he could bear.

He leaned back, drinking in her beaming face before kissing her with all of the love he had in his heart for her. She eagerly returned it, their teeth clicking together with their enthusiasm. He broke their kiss to place his hat back on his head before wrapping her in his arms once again, his hands clutching at her back and waist, pulling her tight against him. “Demelza,” he whispered, for her ears alone.

“Oh, Ross,” she said in that way that made him long for her, her mouth pressed against his ear. “I am so happy for you!”

He leaned back, feeling joyful hands clap him on the shoulders as they passed. “Happy for _us_ , my dear,” Ross corrected. He stroked her cheek. “Happy for us.” He turned and looked down at Henshawe and Zacky, who waited for him on the porch. “Listen, I must stay here for a time,” he said, regretfully, knowing she had plans for them at Nampara for the afternoon. “I need to find out what happened, the scale of the find, so ma—”

“—It’s all right, Ross,” she said, pressing her hand to his heart. “I understand. You tend to business and I’ll continue on home. Should I expect you for dinner?”

He shrugged with what he thought _must_ be a stupid grin creasing his face. He was overwhelmed by all of the good that had happened to him within the last twenty-four hours he could barely contain his joy! “I’m not certain. I wouldn’t think so, but I hope to be back for supper.”

She grinned back at him. “I’ll send Jud down with something for you to eat,” she said, rising on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “So very happy, dear Ross.” He gave her a soft kiss and watched her continue on the path, sharing joyful hugs and smiles with those she met along the way.

He kept his gaze upon her until she rounded the curve towards their home before turning to climb down the hill towards the porch. He noticed both Henshawe and Zacky had knowing smiles alighting their faces. “What?” he said, eying both men warily.

“Oh nothing, Ross,” Zacky said, a twinkle in his eye. “’Tis good to see you and Mistress Poldark so content is all. Happy Christmas, my friend!”

Ross arched a brow at him and Henshawe, who suspiciously avoided eye contact by stuffing his clay pipe with tobacco. “Thank you, Zacky,” he said slowly, the corner of his mouth raised in a smile. He knew _exactly_ what they were smirking about and it didn’t bother him. He was fine with the whole world knowing how he felt about her. But he set that aside as best as he could and wished his two friends the best of the season’s greetings. He shook both of their hands before turning to business. “Right, then, gentlemen, what is the word?”

He was tied up at the mine until close to eight o’clock. The news was excellent. Mark Daniel had been the one who found it, a glorious blue-green river of ore running through the rock. The early estimates indicated they would be able to extract a substantial amount in time for the next copper auction after the first of the year, if they kept up at the pace they were working. Ross had argued the miners and their families deserved some time off, especially because of the Christmas holiday and all of the work they’d put in. But when the suggestion was offered to the miners, they all refused to a man. Ross, however, insisted they all leave for their homes immediately, in order to spend the rest of the Christmas night with their families with the promise to open the mine for business at six in the morning.

All was quiet by the time he reached Nampara. He was disappointed that Demelza’s plans for a quiet Christmas night dinner for the two of them had been spoiled, but the reason for it still made him beam like a schoolboy. They were saved. At least for the time being, that is. They had enough to see them past the worst. In addition, he hoped news that they struck copper would encourage their shareholders to invest more capital, which would assist them even further. He had some paperwork upstairs in the bedchamber he needed to consult before he would know for sure, but all in all, this was shaping up to be the most merry of Christmases, indeed.

He hung up his greatcoat and hat and grabbed a bowl of the Christmas pudding Demelza had left for him on the parlour table before climbing the stairs two at a time. As he turned the corner towards their room, he heard her humming the song from the night before and stopped to allow himself a private moment with the memory of last night. He took a deep breath. It all came down to this new moment. How would she react? How would he? He wouldn’t know until he opened the door.

He stepped into the room and found it awash in candlelight. He had no idea how much money they’d spent on candle supplies since they’d wed – too much, he was certain – but it was well worth it. She sat up against the headboard of their four-poster bed, working on her mending. She was wearing one of his old shirts, preferring it to her nightrail. The sleeves were miles too long while the hem was several feet shorter than the garment he’d purchased for her just before they were married. He found he didn’t mind a bit. “Good evening, Demelza,” he said, grinning at her. He strode from the door, set the bowl down on the night table nearest her side of the bed and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

“Good evening, Ross,” she purred, smiling happily up at him. “Did things go well at the mine?”

He nodded. “Very well, my dear,” he said, turning on his heel to walk over to the desk. He searched around on the desk for some notes from the last shareholder’s meeting. He found them and held them up close to the light to read them. He looked at her over the papers. “We believe we will be able to keep the mine afloat, for the next six months at the very least.”

“Oh, I’m that glad for you, Ross,” she said as he returned his attention to the papers. He could hear the smile in her voice, but also detected a hint of nerves as well. _Well, she isn’t the only one,_ he thought to himself as he chewed on his pencil. The silence stretched in the room for several moments before he heard her shift on the bed.

“So how did I do, Ross?” she said from behind him. He blinked at the bluntness of her question. “You were not tooashamed of me?”

He frowned. She _had_ to know how well she did last night – she was magnificent! But he remembered what she said to him before they walked onto the property: You won’t be ashamed of me. He sighed, somehow knowing she would need his reassurance of her position in his life and amidst his class for some time; especially with the Trenwith Poldarks, one of them in particular. Funny, how the thought of Elizabeth failed to do a single thing to him any longer.

He turned his head to look at Demelza, wreathed in flickering candlelight. The memories of the journey he made to reach this destination flashed through his mind: seduction and desire, to duty and honour, discovery and friendship, to everlasting passion and purpose. He looked out the window, smiled inwardly and turned to face her. The time was now.

“Why do you think I married you?” he asked, direct.

She blinked and twisted her fingers in the fabric of the shirt. “I don’t rightly know,” she said with a small laugh.

“To satisfy an appetite,” he stated, matter-of-factly. That was the God’s honest truth. She lit a fire within him that night she wore the blue satin gown, a fire he knew was there but had refused to feed, until she would no longer allow him to ignore it. It still burned within him, and he suspected always would. He set the papers he held in his hand down on the table with an audible plop. “To save myself from being alone.” This was also true, remembering the words of the Reverend Odgers at Jim and Jinny’s wedding: _a remedy against sin and to avoid fornication_. He barely restrained a snort at the concept. It was more than that for him, of course. He could talk to her, share ideas with her. It was companionship, pure and simple, and he’d grown to crave her companionship above all others.

He tossed the pencil down and crossed the room to sit across from her on their bed. “Because it was the right thing to do?” he asked. It _was_ , after all. A nervous laugh formed at the end of the question. For the nerves had arrived, circling around in his stomach like a murder of crows. He shook his head and stared into the fire before raising his eyes to meet hers. “I had few expectations.” He looked down again and felt the side of his mouth quirk up at the memory, because it was true. He prayed she would not find all of this painful. She deserved to hear what he was certain she suspected; to hear it confirmed, to allay any further doubt. He found he was unable to meet her eyes until the words were out of his lips. “At best, you’d be a distraction.” He flicked the briefest of glances at her. “A bandage to ease a wound.”

He could see her out of the corner of his eye, her disappointment clearly etched into her face. It was a stab to his heart to see her so, but she hadn’t wavered in her attention towards him despite of what must have been disheartening words to hear. He was glad that he wasn’t finished; far from it.

“But I was mistaken.” His eyes sought hers, hazel to sea-green. Hers darkened under his gaze and he swallowed. “You’ve redeemed me,” he breathed and he felt his heart racing in his chest as laid his soul bare for her to see. He looked down and reached for her left hand, his thumb tracing around the gold band he placed upon it six months before. He raised his eyes to meet hers once more, remembering his vows and how they were a means to an end that day, and a promise for their future together today. “I am your humble servant.” His grip tightened. “And I love you.”

It was as if the earth stopped turning and time stood still for what felt like an eternity when, in fact, it only lasted for the beat of a hummingbird’s wing. He wasn’t certain she heard him correctly as she was so very still. The next second she blinked and gently smiled, concern wiped clean away from her face, and in that moment he knew. She’d seen it, recognized it in him as she sang to him and only him. He watched as she sighed a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding – reminding him of his own breathlessness from last night, smiling at its echo reflected in her. He leaned in, his hand reaching up to touch her cheek before kissing her, tenderly, lovingly.

They ended their kiss, foreheads resting against one another. Ross felt a lightness in his heart he’d never experienced before. Perhaps they could have a happy life together, despite the uncertainties of the mine, cherishing the simple things in life. With her by his side, it sounded like a blessing, one that anyone would be grateful for, and he was very grateful indeed.

“Well,” she said, her voice soft and melodic in his ears, “I hope you will have a little love to spare.”

His eyes drifted open to find hers watching him. He toyed with the fingers of her left hand, still held in his. He leaned back, his eyes alighting on the features he loved so much. He smiled. “For what?”

“Our child.”

Ross blinked. He wasn’t certain he understood what she said. Their child? The _idea_ of a child, perhaps? He felt the corner of his mouth twitch up into a smile. Her own smile broadened and she tipped her head in a slight nod. He blinked again, feeling as if the earth underneath him had disappeared and he was, for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, falling hopelessly, helplessly in love with her again. Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink and she bit her bottom lip. Ross exhaled and felt his face split into a smile of shock and delight. _Their child!_ He was to be a father! He captured her face in his hands and brought her towards him, kissing her once again. And again. And again.

 

The End

**Author's Note:**

> We've come to the end of this journey for Romelza, but I've got a couple of things rambling around in my head for these two. It's been an absolute joy exploring what has got to be my all-time favorite hour of television, bar none. I'm glad you've enjoyed it too. Thank you, once again, for your wonderful comments and supportive kudos. I freely admit I look for that little email from AO3 telling me I have kudos in the mornings and can't begin to tell you how much seeing one saying I've a comment waiting for me makes me smile! So thanks. I mean it.
> 
> Speaking of thanks, to Jackie and Sherry who have stuck with me through ninety-four chapter edits (Yes. I just counted them.) for this story and are still speaking to me! They've said they'll stick around to see what else comes out of the keyboard, and I'm very grateful they will. The gift of friendship that comes out of our fandom appreciations is something I cherish everyday. 
> 
> I've got something I put together for a fic contest that MAY get posted a few days before Christmas, unless it winds up being incorporate into a larger story surrounding the pregnancy. Could be a challenge seeing as how I've not experienced that. Oh well, time for RESEARCH! :-) Take care all, thanks again, and stay in touch @mmmusings on the tweets and @mmmuses on the tumblr!


End file.
